Clam Chowder
by Coffee Enthusiast
Summary: KHR drabbles, some connected and some not. First gen Vongola shows up. Some shounen-ai. Basically, whatever I come up with.
1. Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey

Clam Chowder

KHR not mine. Head canons and weirdness abound. Unedited.

Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey

Nobody knows where the boy comes from. Naturally, they are all suspicious, but Daemon and Elena have confirmed that he is not an illusion, and there is such an air of sincerity about him that one cannot second guess it. It doesn't help that he looks so much like their illustrious leader. G's head aches.

All Giotto says is, "He's not mine," as he pulls the boy onto his lap. "What's your name?" he asks.

The boy tilts his head to the side. "Nani?" His voice is high and light. Even the way he waits is like Giotto. G knows his friend has no children but anyone who doesn't know him would be hard pressed to believe it.

"What is your name?" Giotto asks again, in Japanese.

"Tsu-na-yo-shi," the boy enunciates the syllables so carefully, it's almost like he sings them out.

"Tsu-na-yo-shi," Giotto repeats. "It's a heavy name for such a little boy. How about I call you 'Tsuna?'"

"You can call me that," Tsuna agrees and hops off Giotto's lap to go run for hide and seek.

G wants to tell him that it's no good. Giotto is the worst person to play hide and seek with; he always finds you. But for that same reason, he is the also the best; you are never alone for too long.


	2. WWTW - 2

KHR not mine, just putting that out there. I mention a character named Claudia, she is mine.

Yikes, it's been a while, hasn't it? I probably should have warned whoever's reading this that updates will likely be sporadic. Here, have a longer thing.

Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey – 2

They've all gotten used to Tsuna in their own ways. They've gotten used to his strange comings and goings, and the boy himself. All of the members of the Vongola vigilante group (Where did that name even come from?) have learned to roll with the punches. Giotto Celeste Ventura is not so much a person as an event that happens to the people he meets, and Sawada Tsunayoshi seems to be cut from the same cloth.

He's pulled Lampo into games of hide and seek, being as humiliatingly good as Giotto, and though Lampo grumbles about his losses, he pulls Tsuna to sit next to him when they take a break. The Lightning is the youngest of five, so he's never gotten to be an older brother before. It's not the worst thing in the world.

G sighs more now. Tsuna looks up at him worriedly, because G-san looks like he has a stomach ache, so he should probably sit down. The huge caramel-colored eyes bore into his face, radiating goodwill and concern. G just sighs again, "Just like your not-father," and teaches Tsuna how to throw a proper punch, because kids are mean little fuckers, and they're not going to let him be himself. Fuck that.

Tsuna spends a great deal of time in the garden. When he's not playing with Lampo, he sits under the trees with Ugetsu. Leaning into the tall man's side, he listens to him play his flute. It's not a shakuhachi, but it's still a flute, so Ugetsu can play it. Utterly charmed by Tsuna's attention, he tries to teach him to play, but sadly, the boy's talent is outstripped by his enthusiasm. Ah well, at least he enjoys music.

Cozart likes Tsuna. He's not at the base as often as the others anymore, so he sees him less; he's becoming more and more independent from Vongola (Seriously, where did this name come from?), and there has been talk about the Shimon. But back to Tsuna, Cozart likes him, kind of wants his own miniature version of himself. He lifts Tsuna into the air with his Earth Flame, to the boy's delight, laughing at the happy shouts about flying. He walks up the walls to the sound of more laughter. It's worth it when Elena yells at him about the dirt on the walls. A little dirt never hurt anybody.

Elena, when she lays eyes on Tsuna after a long absence, goes still. The air around her bursts into illusions of sparkles of light and flowers as she launches herself at the boy. Daemon pokes at a rose, and heaves a sigh, reminding his wife that the boy needs air, cara, calm down. The illusions they craft to entertain Tsuna are nothing like the nightmares they use in battle. Daemon makes them colorful and playful, to match the boy's energy, and Elena's are soft and soothing when Tsuna is being stubborn and refusing to sleep. Elena makes Tsuna sweets, slapping Giotto's hand away from them, scolding, "They're not for you, brother!" She teaches him words in Italian, encouraging and gently correcting, and it makes Daemon think of what she'll be like with their own children. The air ripples around him with his own happy illusions.

Robert adores children, both as a priest, for they are God's gifts, and as himself, for they remind him of the good things in the world. Tsuna is especially precious, not only for being his friend's child, in spirit if not in body, but in his own right. He is a miracle to the limit, especially after he makes the stoic Jean-Philippe crack a smile. Carrying Tsuna on his shoulders is the closest he will get to fatherhood. He catches Claudia's eye and his gaze flicks away.

Jean-Philippe doesn't mind Tsuna. Indeed, the child's attempts to pronounce his given name are hilarious, and shit, it's adorable when Tsuna huffs and grumbles out, "Alaude-san," in defeat. It's completely involuntary when he chuckles. Across the chessboard, Giotto drops his rook in shock, but he automatically compensates for Tsuna shifting in his lap, the boy's favorite seat, and that's adorable, too. Tsuna often sits in on their games, even though he has no idea what's happening on the board. Giotto is bending his head down near Tsuna's face, pointing out the various pieces, explaining the rules, and it's like looking at two sides of a mirror. "He really does look like yours, you know."

"I know," Giotto says, "but he's not. There's…there's never been anyone like that. There isn't anyone like that." He looks like he almost wants to take words back, but he won't.

Jean-Philippe doesn't know why that is so important to hear, but it is, it really is, and part of him thinks he's on the verge of figuring it out. They play on, and it's going to be his win this time, but Tsuna nods off against Giotto's chest. "Tsuna, time for bed," Jean-Philippe says.

"No," Tsuna protests sleepily, and his face scrunches up in an unconscious attempt to cute his way out of it.

"Tsunayoshi." It's rare for Giotto to call him by his proper name, so Tsuna pouts and turns into Giotto's chest, wrapping his small arms about his neck, and Giotto nuzzles the brown hair as he stands.

"Alaude-san has to come," Tsuna yawns out. "The monsters won't be there because they know he'll arrest them."

Giotto's eyes meet his, and he's getting up, and they're putting Tsuna down in Giotto's bed, where he always sleeps if he's around at night. Giotto tucks him in, and Jean-Philippe checks under the bed, confirming the lack of monsters. He knows this room as well as his own, but he glances over all the corners and sight lines because he's not an idiot.

Giotto is kicking off his shoes and climbing into bed because Tsuna's grip on his shirt is adamantine. Tsuna turns to Jean-Philippe and orders, "Alaude-san, come on. The monsters might come if you go. Giotto-san and I can't fight them alone."

He can't say no to that face and those eyes. He kicks off his own shoes and slides in on Tsuna's other side. Tsuna is already asleep. His eyes meet Giotto's over the unruly brown hair. This is…nice. Why is it so nice?

One day, Tsuna goes, but he doesn't come back. One day, Elena dies. Another day, Daemon becomes a traitor, and drags Ricardo along with him. Yet another day, Giotto is in exile, and Cozart disappears onto the sea. They are all broken and scattered, and can only think, "At least Tsuna isn't here to see this."


	3. Standing on the Precipice

I revised this a little, since I wasn't happy with the first version. Hopefully, it reads a little better. Tell me what you guys think.

As always, KHR not mine.

Standing on the Precipice

It was late afternoon, and Hibari Kyoya lay on the roof of Namimori High as he often did. Normally, he would be sleeping or awaiting Tetsu to report on especially disruptive herbivores, but…

He glanced down at the bracelet on his left wrist. "Hey. Come out." Nothing happened. Kyoya scowled. He didn't like this behavior in himself at all, but this was the least distasteful course of action. "Shitty ghost carnivore. Jean-Philippe Alaude." Kyoya managed not to bite his own tongue. "I need to talk to you."

A flare of Cloud Flame, and Alaude commented wryly, "I've been called a lot of things, but that's new. What do you want, shitty brat?" His face was expressionless as his glacial blue eyes took in his successor's measure.

Kyoya sneered. "You and Vongola Primo," he began, and nearly started as Alaude visibly reacted to the name. His face was still, but that look in his eyes—did he look like that when he thought about the little animal? "Sawada Tsunayoshi and I, we…" He paused. Why was this so fucking hard?

Not that far from Namimori High, Sawada Tsunayoshi sat on the roof of his house. Glancing down nervously at the ring on his finger, he whispered, "Primo? Giotto-san?"

Almost immediately, the Ring of Sky glowed orange, and the ghost (?) of his ancestor was sitting beside him, golden eyes worried. "Tsuna-kun? What is it? What's wrong?"

Forcing himself to speak, Tsuna mumbled, "I'm sorry, Primo-san, I know this isn't life or death, but I really needed to talk to someone, and I can't even imagine talking to Reborn about this"—the humiliation factor was too much—"I don't know who else I can ask—"

"Tsuna-kun," Giotto interrupted gently, "if you need to talk to me, it's not a problem. I'm not exactly busy. I'm actually glad to speak with you without the mafia being involved. Now something is clearly bothering you, so out with it."

Tsuna's cheeks flushed, both at the impending subject and the idea that someone so cool actually wanted to talk to him. He opened his mouth. No sound came out. His flush deepened.

Giotto's smile was soft and his gaze patient as he lifted an arm. Tsuna didn't let himself think as he slid under the cape to curl up against the other's surprisingly solid side. Cuddling with your great-great…great-grandpa was okay, right? There was nothing weird about it, right? He settled in a little more. This felt pretty nice, actually.

"Tsuna-kun?" Giotto prompted.

Tsuna inhaled and exhaled. "Well, it doesn't have to do with you directly, but…you were in a similar situation. Hibari-san and I, we…" He couldn't finish the sentence, so he tried again. "You and Alaude-san…you were in love, right? That's what Skull said…" As Alaude's former aide, Skull would know, wouldn't he?

Golden eyes widened. "Oh," was all Giotto could say. Impossibly, Vongola Primo, the Great Sky himself, blushed.

Tsuna felt a little better that he wasn't the only one embarrassed now.

"Let me guess," Alaude said, after he had recovered himself. "Considering most people are a pain in the ass except when theirs are being kicked, being with him is unexpectedly easy. Even the things that normally make you lose your shit are slightly more tolerable when he's around. You're at the point where you actively seek him out."

Kyoya twitched.

"He's willing to take whatever you're willing to give, and what's fucking astonishing is that you're willing to give anything at all, because you're a bastard and you know it."

"Aren't you talking about yourself?" Kyoya muttered. This was all sounding uncomfortably familiar.

"Ce putain de morveux, 1" Alaude muttered to himself, and continued. "He smiles and looks at you like you can do anything, and you can, because he's the one looking. But dealing with all this bullshit emotion is outside the realm of your experience, so you don't, until you get disgusted with yourself. Still, you don't know what the fuck you're going to do."

All that…pretty much summed it up. It galled Kyoya to ask this question, but he had to. "…What do I do?"

Alaude just looked at him, and Kyoya can't really call his eyes cold anymore. "I can't tell you that."

"…It's just," Tsuna whispered. He could only talk about it in whispers. It felt too … _big_ to do otherwise. "I feel safe with him, even though he's scary. I don't think anyone's made me feel safe before. He hates crowding, but he's always there when I need him. He's _Hibari Kyoya"—_ could adjectives even properly describe Hibari-san?—"and I'm _reassured_ by the thought of him! I even go to school late on purpose so I can see him! Being bitten to death isn't even that bad, because he gets mad if I _don't_ dodge! I feel like…like he makes me want to be better, to be stronger…"

"…Because you need to be good enough to match him. You need to be strong enough so he can lean on you if he ever needs to, because you've leaned on him enough times," Giotto finished. "I probably am the best person to talk to about this, aren't I?" He sighed softly.

"Yeah…"

"I can't tell you what to do, Tsuna. This is between you and your Cloud. No one else has anything to do with it."

"I can ask for advice, though, can't I?" Tsuna muttered.

"Of course you can. But you have to make the decision about what to do, and no one else, because this is your life and these are your feelings. Yours and Hibari-kun's. Other people may try to do more than advise you, because they mean well and think they know better. They'll tell you that you're running with a lit candle in your hand2, but… sometimes, the flame doesn't go out. If those people try to get involved…"

Tsuna thought of Iemitsu, or Reborn, or even the Ninth, and winced at the thought of mentioning his less than platonic feelings for his Cloud Guardian to any of them. Reborn had been giving him and Hibari-san thoughtful looks lately, and in Tsuna's experience, that was never good. "If they do…?"

"Tell them to fuck off," Giotto said simply.

Tsuna gaped. "Just like that?!"

"Just like that. Although you'd probably be more polite about it. You don't have Jean-Philippe's soldier's mouth," Giotto mused.

Tsuna felt faint at the idea.

"The fuck." Kyoya's stare was flat.

"It's between the two of you," Alaude said simply. "You and Sawada Tsunayoshi have to decide what you'll go forward as. It's no one else's business, in case you didn't realize."

Of course it was no one else's business. Kyoya didn't need to be told that. "How did you do it?"

"It took us a long time. In my defense, I had never felt that way about anyone before. Emotions aren't my strong suit, though they _are_ Giotto's, so I counted on him to be the reckless one, because that's what he did. But there were things even he couldn't be reckless about. So I had to be the one to take that step, even though it took twelve years. "

Twelve years. Living that long with this bullshit was unacceptable. "How did you know he would accept you?"

Looking away from the Namimori skyline, such as it was, Alaude turned back to him. "I didn't. With Giotto, I looked at what I had and what I could have, and I made the choice I would regret the least3. Only you know what that is for you." With that, Alaude was gone.

Fucking ghost carnivore. But the insult was almost an afterthought, as Kyoya looked over Namimori without seeing it.

"Tsuna," Giotto looked at him directly, "I know that this is scary. I was scared, too. It took twelve years for us to come together. I don't think I can describe how I felt when I saw Jean-Philippe, in Japan, walking up the path to my house. It was the first time I saw him in years. I never expected him to take that step, but he was better at surprising me than most people."

Tsuna didn't know how to feel about this human side of the man who had, indirectly, changed his life. But, at least now he knew, it wasn't stupid to be anxious about talking to Hibari-san about the thing between them. If Giotto-san, who was so amazing, could be afraid… "What happened?"

Giotto smiled at the memory of it. "I asked him, 'What are you doing here?'

"He said, 'I'm here because you're here. What are you going to do with that?'

"I just stood there like an idiot until I realized that Jean was waiting for a response. Even at that moment, I was unsure about what to do, but I remembered something my mother used to say.'The unknown can hold terror, but it can also hold joy, 4'" Giotto recited in his soft voice. "'Whichever you embrace is up to you.' I made my choice, and that was it. But only you know what's right for you. Whatever you decide, I'll support you." He leaned in, and Tsuna's forehead felt warm, like his Dying Will Flame was lit.

Tsuna had closed his eyes, and when he opened them, he was alone on the roof.

"Fuck this, I'm a fucking carnivore." Kyoya pulled out his phone.

Tsuna walked up to the sidewalk to school. He glanced upwards. The sun was starting to set. Hibari-san was waiting in the courtyard, tonfa nowhere in sight, and Tsuna thought maybe his gray eyes glinted violet for a moment. His feet felt like lead, but, "Terror or joy," he whispered. He stepped onto the grounds.

Kyoya watched the little animal come closer, and his eyes looked orange. If it was the light of the setting sun, or the Dying Will, he didn't know, but it didn't matter. Tsunayoshi was taking this as seriously as he was, and right now, that was all he could ask for. "Make the choice you'll regret the least." The shitty ghost carnivore was right. He did know what that was. He went to meet Tsunayoshi by the gate.

Endnotes:

1\. 1. French: "This fucking brat."

2\. 2.From "In the Soup" vol. 1, a Riren SnK dj. Hanji said something about how Levi's relationship with Eren was like running with a candle in the hand, implying the flame is going to go out, but Levi responded that running with a candle isn't the worst thing. I thought the line was very romantic.

3\. 3. Why is Levi so cool? I actually find myself thinking about that line a lot… Levi would totally be a Cloud...

4\. 4.From _The Book of Life_ , from the All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness. If you like vampires and alchemy, it's RTYI.


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